Firing Is Too Merciful: How James Cameron Leads
10:25 AM Friday March 5, 2010
by Rebecca Keegan | www.HBR.org
If you sat through the endless list of credits for Avatar, you saw that it took about 3,000 people to make the CGI epic, which has now grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide, shattering box office records, earning nine Oscar nominations and reinventing cinema for the digital age. The boss of all those people was director James Cameron.
While researching my book, The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron, I watched the director's often controversial management style up close. One of Hollywood's most innovative filmmakers, Cameron is also one of its toughest taskmasters, a man who ran notoriously grueling sets for movies like The Terminator, Aliens and Titanic. After Titanic, Cameron spent years away from the movie business indulging a lifelong passion--deep ocean exploration. The experiences he had leading groups on the open sea tempered the director's management style. But working for Cameron is still roughing it by Hollywood standards. From my seat on the Avatar set, these are the rules he manages by:
Break New Ground
"It's Avatar, dude, nothing works the first time," read a whiteboard in the spare Los Angeles warehouse that served as the sci fi film's motion capture soundstage. Breaking new ground is Cameron's raison d'être — nothing interests this man unless it's hard to do. But innovation has also become a way of bonding his teams, both on Avatar and on his deep sea expeditions. "We're out in the wilderness working far beyond the borders of the known," Cameron says, comparing his CG and undersea projects. "We're doing extraordinary things that outsiders would not even understand." For Cameron, a sense of exploration isn't just personally enriching, it's a crucial tool for motivating and uniting his teams.
Firing Is Too Merciful
Everyone who has been part of Cameron's cast and crew has bitter war stories about working for him, and yet they all seem to forget them when they're clutching Oscars and cashing checks. Many Cameron alumni will share a story from their first film with him, a day they were sure they were going to be fired, almost hoped for it. But Cameron rarely fires people. "Firing is too merciful," he says. Instead he tests their endurance for long hours, hard tasks, and harsh criticism. Survivors tend to surprise themselves by turning in the best work of their careers, and signing on for Cameron's next project.
Lead from the Front
Cameron is almost comically hands-on. He does things elite directors don't do — hold the camera, man the editing console, sketch the creatures, apply the makeup. The truth is, he would do nearly every job on a movie himself if he could. But any film, much less one as ambitious as Avatar, relies on collaboration. Forced to lean on others, Cameron sets the pace. Among his 3000-strong stable of artists and engineers, he's the first to try a new challenge, the last to quit at the end of the day, and the hardest to please.
Good Enough Isn't
Avatar took more than twice as long to make as an average film. Much of that added time was due to the film's Herculean design demands and its reliance on untested technologies, but some of it was thanks to Cameron's perfectionism. Hours were spent on the smallest details, like getting alien sap to drip precisely right. A column in one special effects shot annoyed Cameron. After 15 minutes debating its placement while teleconferencing with weary Weta Digital artists in New Zealand, he declared, "That column is worth $50 million of the domestic gross!" shaking his head at his own obsessiveness. It's hard to argue with Cameron's nitpicky style, however, when audiences thrill to immerse themselves in the richly detailed worlds he creates.
Hire People People
Aware that he can be a hard man to work for, Cameron wisely surrounds himself with amiable deputies. "I have my bad days, and on my best days I'm no Ron Howard," he admits. Cameron's closest associates, his producer, Jon Landau, and the head of his production company, Rae Sanchini, are management savants. They know when an exhausted crew needs a pep talk, when a wounded artist's ego needs soothing, when an anxious studio executive needs reassurance. And — a talent never to be underestimated — they know when to order the pizza, and tell the boss to quit for dinner.
Rebecca Keegan is the author of The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Safety, Quality, then Volume: Toyota 2010
Too Big to Succeed
As Toyota and Hummer have learned, growing too fast can be a dangerous thing.
From easily exploding cars to killer spinach and lead-laced toys, a look at products that we could have lived without.
By Daniel Gross | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Feb 25, 2010
From its origins, success in the auto industry has been about scale. In the early decades of the 20th century, Henry Ford was able to democratize the car and dominate the early auto industry because he built, and then continually tinkered with, an assembly line that could churn out huge numbers of cars in a short amount of time. Bigger was always better.
But two items from yesterday's dispatch in the ongoing car dramas indicate why that's not always true.
Item No. 1: The Toyota debacle. The mass failings of Toyota's legendary quality-control efforts are now on full display in the hearings that have subjected CEO Akio Toyoda to a ritualized set of apologies and humiliations. In recent years Toyota rode its efficiency and better financial management—it didn't have to contend with the onerous pension and health-care benefits that sandbagged the Big Three—to large gains in market share and significant growth. In 2007 Toyota surpassed GM as the largest carmaker in the world.
But something got lost in the process. As Toyoda acknowledged on Wednesday: "I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick. I would like to point out here that Toyota's priority has traditionally been: first, safety; second, quality; and third, volume. These priorities became confused." In other words, Toyoda seemed to admit, the company went astray by moving size—i.e., volume—to the front of the line.
Item No. 2: After a series of failed efforts to sell it, GM announced that its Hummer brand would be wound down. Hummer had a different problem with bigness than Toyota has. It wasn't that its production volumes were too high. In 2008 only 2,710 Hummers were sold. Rather, the outsize Hummer was simply too big—too inefficient, too out of step with the times—to succeed in a marketplace in which oil spiked to $150 per barrel and seems to have settled at a plateau above $70 a barrel. As the economy tanked, energy prices rose, and the zeitgeist shifted in favor of conservation, the gas-guzzling Hummer faced a double whammy: consumers had difficulty affording the vehicle's high sticker price as well as difficulty affording its high operating price.
As Toyota and Hummer have learned, growing too fast can be a dangerous thing.
From easily exploding cars to killer spinach and lead-laced toys, a look at products that we could have lived without.
By Daniel Gross | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Feb 25, 2010
From its origins, success in the auto industry has been about scale. In the early decades of the 20th century, Henry Ford was able to democratize the car and dominate the early auto industry because he built, and then continually tinkered with, an assembly line that could churn out huge numbers of cars in a short amount of time. Bigger was always better.
But two items from yesterday's dispatch in the ongoing car dramas indicate why that's not always true.
Item No. 1: The Toyota debacle. The mass failings of Toyota's legendary quality-control efforts are now on full display in the hearings that have subjected CEO Akio Toyoda to a ritualized set of apologies and humiliations. In recent years Toyota rode its efficiency and better financial management—it didn't have to contend with the onerous pension and health-care benefits that sandbagged the Big Three—to large gains in market share and significant growth. In 2007 Toyota surpassed GM as the largest carmaker in the world.
But something got lost in the process. As Toyoda acknowledged on Wednesday: "I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick. I would like to point out here that Toyota's priority has traditionally been: first, safety; second, quality; and third, volume. These priorities became confused." In other words, Toyoda seemed to admit, the company went astray by moving size—i.e., volume—to the front of the line.
Item No. 2: After a series of failed efforts to sell it, GM announced that its Hummer brand would be wound down. Hummer had a different problem with bigness than Toyota has. It wasn't that its production volumes were too high. In 2008 only 2,710 Hummers were sold. Rather, the outsize Hummer was simply too big—too inefficient, too out of step with the times—to succeed in a marketplace in which oil spiked to $150 per barrel and seems to have settled at a plateau above $70 a barrel. As the economy tanked, energy prices rose, and the zeitgeist shifted in favor of conservation, the gas-guzzling Hummer faced a double whammy: consumers had difficulty affording the vehicle's high sticker price as well as difficulty affording its high operating price.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
HBR.org: John Baldone, How to face your critics
How to Face Your Critics
10:49 AM Wednesday February 3, 2010 | Comments (10)
When people criticize you, what's the best thing to do? Show up and face the music.
President Barack Obama did just that when he met with Republican House members at their party conference last week in Baltimore. He met face-to-face with some of his sharpest critics, and in the process, demonstrated what it means to lead under fire.
In doing so, the President, whether you like or dislike him, provided a template for leaders to use when they need to face critics. Here's what we can learn.
Show up. Let your critics see you for the leader who you are. Adopting a "hide in the bunker" attitude only plays to them. It gives them free rein to paint you however they like — demon, demagogue, or do-nothing. By showing up you demonstrate that you are not afraid.
Be open. President Obama invited the media; you can shoot video of your meeting and broadcast it over a controlled-access website. In doing so, you demonstrate transparency and show your willingness to engage those who disagree with you. Videotaping also challenges people to be on their best behavior because they are being recorded.
Be cool. When people criticize you to your face, breathe deeply. As an opponent's voice rises, lower yours. Speak deliberately and with a sense of calm. The more control you have of your emotions, the stronger you will appear.
Acknowledge your shortcomings. Standing up to criticism is an opportunity to admit your own failings. Do it with a sense of earnestness, that is, demonstrate through words and passion that you have done what you think is best. At the same time, do not be defensive. Act with honest confidence, even when you admit mistakes.
Criticize gently. The spotlight may be on you, but the heat is also on your critics. Give as good as you get, but do it with a sense of diplomacy. A good-natured jibe here or there is good for you as well as others. It reveals your humanity.
Smile frequently. Lighten things up by relaxing your facial muscles. This demonstrates that you are in control. Smile when appropriate, but never smirk. Don't let them see you sweat, either. Smiling keeps you on a more even keel.
Leave them wanting more. Know when to close the engagement. You can ruin a good thing by hanging around on stage. It may be appropriate to meet and mingle off stage, in fact that's a great idea, but know when to get off the stage and let others talk.
When the heat is on, showing your face to your sharpest critics is a great way to demonstrate that you are in control of yourself as well as your message. Standing up to those who oppose you is a strong measure of demonstrating that you have what it takes to lead.
10:49 AM Wednesday February 3, 2010 | Comments (10)
When people criticize you, what's the best thing to do? Show up and face the music.
President Barack Obama did just that when he met with Republican House members at their party conference last week in Baltimore. He met face-to-face with some of his sharpest critics, and in the process, demonstrated what it means to lead under fire.
In doing so, the President, whether you like or dislike him, provided a template for leaders to use when they need to face critics. Here's what we can learn.
Show up. Let your critics see you for the leader who you are. Adopting a "hide in the bunker" attitude only plays to them. It gives them free rein to paint you however they like — demon, demagogue, or do-nothing. By showing up you demonstrate that you are not afraid.
Be open. President Obama invited the media; you can shoot video of your meeting and broadcast it over a controlled-access website. In doing so, you demonstrate transparency and show your willingness to engage those who disagree with you. Videotaping also challenges people to be on their best behavior because they are being recorded.
Be cool. When people criticize you to your face, breathe deeply. As an opponent's voice rises, lower yours. Speak deliberately and with a sense of calm. The more control you have of your emotions, the stronger you will appear.
Acknowledge your shortcomings. Standing up to criticism is an opportunity to admit your own failings. Do it with a sense of earnestness, that is, demonstrate through words and passion that you have done what you think is best. At the same time, do not be defensive. Act with honest confidence, even when you admit mistakes.
Criticize gently. The spotlight may be on you, but the heat is also on your critics. Give as good as you get, but do it with a sense of diplomacy. A good-natured jibe here or there is good for you as well as others. It reveals your humanity.
Smile frequently. Lighten things up by relaxing your facial muscles. This demonstrates that you are in control. Smile when appropriate, but never smirk. Don't let them see you sweat, either. Smiling keeps you on a more even keel.
Leave them wanting more. Know when to close the engagement. You can ruin a good thing by hanging around on stage. It may be appropriate to meet and mingle off stage, in fact that's a great idea, but know when to get off the stage and let others talk.
When the heat is on, showing your face to your sharpest critics is a great way to demonstrate that you are in control of yourself as well as your message. Standing up to those who oppose you is a strong measure of demonstrating that you have what it takes to lead.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
2 Minute Stories Help You Lead
by Stew Friedman
HRB.org
How a 2-Minute Story Helps You Lead
3:53 PM Tuesday August 4, 2009 | Comments (31)
Leaders gain trust and teach people what's important to them by telling stories. But these days there's so much to attend to — now! — coming at us so fast. You might be tempted to let slide your soft skills, like how to tell a useful story. Just get to the point and move on to the next thing on the list. No time for fluff.
Even President Obama, who masterfully demonstrated his storytelling skills in the campaign, was recently described as shuffling from one crucial issue to the next, like an iPod listener flits from song to song. No time for albums. Trying to do too much, too fast, and on too many fronts can be risky, yet today's environment requires that we get better at doing so.
All the more reason, then, for giving attention to how you get others to pay attention. The trick is to show movement on the issues that matter while, for each issue, helping your key stakeholders grasp the meaning of what you're aiming to achieve — why the goal matters to the team or the organization and how we're going to get from here to there.
So don't give up on honing your storytelling skills; instead, learn how to move faster among your different narratives. Through practice and feedback, improve your ability to connect through stories — while keeping them short to hold beleaguered attention spans. For even as the digital age compels us to develop ever-increasing capacities for a switch-your-focus-but-remain-present state of mind, as a leader you still have to be able to convey a narrative that resonates with your people and inspires them to move with you in the right direction.
A good leadership story has the power to engage hearts and minds. It has these six crucial elements:
1. Draws on your real past and lessons you've learned from it.
2. Resonates emotionally with your audience because it's relevant to them.
3. Inspires your audience because it's fueled by your passion.
4. Shows the struggle between your goal and the obstacles you faced in pursuing it.
5. Illustrates with a vivid example.
6. Teaches an important lesson.
Leaders at all levels and in all walks of life can improve their skill in telling a good, fast leadership story. Here's how: think of a story that meets these six criteria and convey it to someone — anyone who you'd like to teach — in less than two minutes. Then ask them what impact the hearing of your tale had on them. Where they moved? Did they learn what you wanted to convey? Next, repeat with someone else — but do it faster. Then again, faster still.
Let us know what you discover.
HRB.org
How a 2-Minute Story Helps You Lead
3:53 PM Tuesday August 4, 2009 | Comments (31)
Leaders gain trust and teach people what's important to them by telling stories. But these days there's so much to attend to — now! — coming at us so fast. You might be tempted to let slide your soft skills, like how to tell a useful story. Just get to the point and move on to the next thing on the list. No time for fluff.
Even President Obama, who masterfully demonstrated his storytelling skills in the campaign, was recently described as shuffling from one crucial issue to the next, like an iPod listener flits from song to song. No time for albums. Trying to do too much, too fast, and on too many fronts can be risky, yet today's environment requires that we get better at doing so.
All the more reason, then, for giving attention to how you get others to pay attention. The trick is to show movement on the issues that matter while, for each issue, helping your key stakeholders grasp the meaning of what you're aiming to achieve — why the goal matters to the team or the organization and how we're going to get from here to there.
So don't give up on honing your storytelling skills; instead, learn how to move faster among your different narratives. Through practice and feedback, improve your ability to connect through stories — while keeping them short to hold beleaguered attention spans. For even as the digital age compels us to develop ever-increasing capacities for a switch-your-focus-but-remain-present state of mind, as a leader you still have to be able to convey a narrative that resonates with your people and inspires them to move with you in the right direction.
A good leadership story has the power to engage hearts and minds. It has these six crucial elements:
1. Draws on your real past and lessons you've learned from it.
2. Resonates emotionally with your audience because it's relevant to them.
3. Inspires your audience because it's fueled by your passion.
4. Shows the struggle between your goal and the obstacles you faced in pursuing it.
5. Illustrates with a vivid example.
6. Teaches an important lesson.
Leaders at all levels and in all walks of life can improve their skill in telling a good, fast leadership story. Here's how: think of a story that meets these six criteria and convey it to someone — anyone who you'd like to teach — in less than two minutes. Then ask them what impact the hearing of your tale had on them. Where they moved? Did they learn what you wanted to convey? Next, repeat with someone else — but do it faster. Then again, faster still.
Let us know what you discover.
Fire Yourself: Act as a new hire to fix the company
Maybe You're the Reason Your Job Is Boring
by Susan Cramm HRB.org
4:20 PM Thursday January 7, 2010
If you are finding your job a little boring, you aren't alone. There are many who feel trapped in their current jobs since the economy has removed a few of the seats in the corporate game of musical chairs. But I challenge you to see that it's actually you, not the job, that's boring. First, see if you recognize any of these hard truths:
1. You're on autopilot.
When bored, our brains shift into autopilot. This isn't a good thing for you or your company. Unfortunately, shifting into autopilot is what our brains do best. Our past experiences create the neural pathways upon which our survival depends. The brain interprets current reality and responds to similar situations using behaviors that have served us well in the past. These shortcuts help us save time, but can also sap our interest.
2. Your energy level is less than impressive.
When we are bored, our energy level dissipates and we lose the focus and purpose so necessary to excel at the job at hand. Our brains no longer work for us and actually start working against us.
3. You've become a conformist.
It's not unusual for leaders to start sleeping on the job once they hit year three or four. At this point, they have molded the organization in their own image. They know their people, processes, and technology aren't perfect, but have adjusted to their imperfections and lose sight of the opportunities for improvement. Every day brings the same set of problems and the same responses. From a performance perspective, the sharp "blacks" and "whites" so obvious on Day 1 become indistinguishable shades of gray. "I can't believe what's going on here!" slowly but surely becomes "I can't believe how tired I am!"
So what's the solution?
Wake yourself up by renewing your leadership agenda. Re-engage by mentally firing yourself and spending the next few weeks acting as if you just joined the company. This entails assessing the current situation anew with the help of key stakeholders. Make it a disciplined process.
This isn't as easy as it sounds. Although you are bored, you are also extremely busy. Your only choice is to extract yourself from day-to-day operations while you redefine your organization's future. It's time to delegate or defer and make sure that the "First 90 Days" activities take priority in your calendar. Activities such as clarifying strengths and opportunities, confirming the mandate for change, and determining how to better allocate existing resources.
This approach is uncomfortable and definitely not boring. Take heart that your organization can operate just fine (for a while) without you and it's far better to fire yourself mentally today rather than wait for your organization to do so — for real.
by Susan Cramm HRB.org
4:20 PM Thursday January 7, 2010
If you are finding your job a little boring, you aren't alone. There are many who feel trapped in their current jobs since the economy has removed a few of the seats in the corporate game of musical chairs. But I challenge you to see that it's actually you, not the job, that's boring. First, see if you recognize any of these hard truths:
1. You're on autopilot.
When bored, our brains shift into autopilot. This isn't a good thing for you or your company. Unfortunately, shifting into autopilot is what our brains do best. Our past experiences create the neural pathways upon which our survival depends. The brain interprets current reality and responds to similar situations using behaviors that have served us well in the past. These shortcuts help us save time, but can also sap our interest.
2. Your energy level is less than impressive.
When we are bored, our energy level dissipates and we lose the focus and purpose so necessary to excel at the job at hand. Our brains no longer work for us and actually start working against us.
3. You've become a conformist.
It's not unusual for leaders to start sleeping on the job once they hit year three or four. At this point, they have molded the organization in their own image. They know their people, processes, and technology aren't perfect, but have adjusted to their imperfections and lose sight of the opportunities for improvement. Every day brings the same set of problems and the same responses. From a performance perspective, the sharp "blacks" and "whites" so obvious on Day 1 become indistinguishable shades of gray. "I can't believe what's going on here!" slowly but surely becomes "I can't believe how tired I am!"
So what's the solution?
Wake yourself up by renewing your leadership agenda. Re-engage by mentally firing yourself and spending the next few weeks acting as if you just joined the company. This entails assessing the current situation anew with the help of key stakeholders. Make it a disciplined process.
This isn't as easy as it sounds. Although you are bored, you are also extremely busy. Your only choice is to extract yourself from day-to-day operations while you redefine your organization's future. It's time to delegate or defer and make sure that the "First 90 Days" activities take priority in your calendar. Activities such as clarifying strengths and opportunities, confirming the mandate for change, and determining how to better allocate existing resources.
This approach is uncomfortable and definitely not boring. Take heart that your organization can operate just fine (for a while) without you and it's far better to fire yourself mentally today rather than wait for your organization to do so — for real.
Leadership Malpractice Susan Cramm
Susan Cramm
HRB.org Jan 2010
There's only one kind of leadership malpractice: wasting the lives of those we lead.
Consider this multiple offender (sent to me in response to my last blog concerning compassion in leadership):
"I'm to show these fools some kind of compassion? For what? So they can go back to their cubicle or cubicles and sit at their decks and talk on their cell phones to their friends and look at porn on the computer that I paid for? I don't think so. More than a few have been fired for just that reason. I do not give a damn about the hired help. You are there to make me a profit, just that simple. If you don't like it, hit the street."
Most leaders aren't this angry — or this clueless. But every leader makes errors in judgment that steal precious moments from the lives of others. A few examples:
* Sponsoring a project that isn't ready for prime time. Innovation is good, but must be approached in a way that is consistent with the organization's readiness for change. Asking a talented leader to go where no man has gone before, only to die in the process, derails careers and creates change cynics, not change agents.
* Overloading the star performer. Stars make it look easy. So easy, that it's tempting to keep on throwing balls in their direction, assuming that they will push back when they have too many in the air. Problem is, many times, overachievers don't know their limits. It's likely that the only feedback you'll hear is when the balls start dropping and people start complaining.
* Managing jobs rather than careers. A series of assignments doesn't a career make. Leaders are responsible for helping people manage their careers by challenging them to articulate longer-range objectives and formulate plans to close the gap. Failure to do so can lead to cul-de-sac careers in which the only way forward is to go back (which becomes ever more difficult as the years go by).
* Negatively labeling others. Good or bad, leaders get what they expect. In the words of Ori and Rom Brafman, authors of the fascinating book, Sway, "when we brand or label people, they take on the characteristics of the diagnosis." There's no doubt that the angry leader ranting above has an underperforming staff. Her expectations have become a self-fulfilling prophecy and, as a result, her people are acting out rather than acting right.
* Refusing to address performance issues. It's a fact that some people are better at their jobs than others. If one of your people is struggling, something is wrong. And, if you know it, so do they. Avoid the tyranny of unfulfilled expectations and get together with them — the sooner the better — to figure out what's going on:
1. Do they want to do the job? Do they understand and buy-in to the objectives or approach and are they personally interested in the assignment?
2. Do they have the time to do the job? Is the job doable given the current support, resources, and priorities?
3. Do they know how to do the job? Do they have the necessary skills, knowledge and abilities to get the job done?
Work together to remediate the issues identified. Once you have done all you can, if performance doesn't improve, make a change. Act prudently but quickly — for their sake and the sake of the people who work with them and for them.
In the stress of the day-to-day, it's relatively easy to commit leadership malpractice. Leaders carry a heavy burden and, in many organizations, the short-term rules over the long-term and the ends justify the means.
However difficult, leaders have an ethical responsibility to get the work done in a way that enriches the organization and the people within it. As you examine your beliefs and behaviors, try this exercise: Visualize one of your people coming home after a long day. As they enter the door, their loved one looks up and asks them about their day.
Now decide. What do you want them to say?
HRB.org Jan 2010
There's only one kind of leadership malpractice: wasting the lives of those we lead.
Consider this multiple offender (sent to me in response to my last blog concerning compassion in leadership):
"I'm to show these fools some kind of compassion? For what? So they can go back to their cubicle or cubicles and sit at their decks and talk on their cell phones to their friends and look at porn on the computer that I paid for? I don't think so. More than a few have been fired for just that reason. I do not give a damn about the hired help. You are there to make me a profit, just that simple. If you don't like it, hit the street."
Most leaders aren't this angry — or this clueless. But every leader makes errors in judgment that steal precious moments from the lives of others. A few examples:
* Sponsoring a project that isn't ready for prime time. Innovation is good, but must be approached in a way that is consistent with the organization's readiness for change. Asking a talented leader to go where no man has gone before, only to die in the process, derails careers and creates change cynics, not change agents.
* Overloading the star performer. Stars make it look easy. So easy, that it's tempting to keep on throwing balls in their direction, assuming that they will push back when they have too many in the air. Problem is, many times, overachievers don't know their limits. It's likely that the only feedback you'll hear is when the balls start dropping and people start complaining.
* Managing jobs rather than careers. A series of assignments doesn't a career make. Leaders are responsible for helping people manage their careers by challenging them to articulate longer-range objectives and formulate plans to close the gap. Failure to do so can lead to cul-de-sac careers in which the only way forward is to go back (which becomes ever more difficult as the years go by).
* Negatively labeling others. Good or bad, leaders get what they expect. In the words of Ori and Rom Brafman, authors of the fascinating book, Sway, "when we brand or label people, they take on the characteristics of the diagnosis." There's no doubt that the angry leader ranting above has an underperforming staff. Her expectations have become a self-fulfilling prophecy and, as a result, her people are acting out rather than acting right.
* Refusing to address performance issues. It's a fact that some people are better at their jobs than others. If one of your people is struggling, something is wrong. And, if you know it, so do they. Avoid the tyranny of unfulfilled expectations and get together with them — the sooner the better — to figure out what's going on:
1. Do they want to do the job? Do they understand and buy-in to the objectives or approach and are they personally interested in the assignment?
2. Do they have the time to do the job? Is the job doable given the current support, resources, and priorities?
3. Do they know how to do the job? Do they have the necessary skills, knowledge and abilities to get the job done?
Work together to remediate the issues identified. Once you have done all you can, if performance doesn't improve, make a change. Act prudently but quickly — for their sake and the sake of the people who work with them and for them.
In the stress of the day-to-day, it's relatively easy to commit leadership malpractice. Leaders carry a heavy burden and, in many organizations, the short-term rules over the long-term and the ends justify the means.
However difficult, leaders have an ethical responsibility to get the work done in a way that enriches the organization and the people within it. As you examine your beliefs and behaviors, try this exercise: Visualize one of your people coming home after a long day. As they enter the door, their loved one looks up and asks them about their day.
Now decide. What do you want them to say?
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Clayton Mathile, Aileron Consultants
Rebuilding America
Billionaire Teaches Others How To Get Rich
Steven Bertoni, 01.21.10, 12:20 PM EST
Forbes Magazine dated February 08, 2010
Mathile's $130 million bet on small business.
Clayton L. Mathile is an entrepreneur who built a billion-dollar fortune in pet food. He sold the Iams Co. to Procter & Gamble ( PG - news - people ) in 1999 for $2.3 billion. Like many of his ilk, he turned his energies to teaching others the craft of entrepreneurship. For the $130 million he's already spent on that goal, Mathile could have simply stuck his name on a new building at Harvard Business School or Wharton and called it a day. Instead, he started a new kind of school for the betterment of the small business owner.
Mathile's project is called Aileron, which started in 1996 offering management classes at community colleges. Some 1,500 businesses have taken its seminars. In April 2008 Mathile cut the ribbon on its permanent home, an airy 70,000-square-foot building of glass, wood and stone on a bucolic campus outside Dayton, Ohio.
Article Controls
A Forbes 400 Profile on Clayton Mathile
The "clients," as the small business owners are called, are a different breed from what's usually found wandering the halls of Ivy League business schools. These are owners of roofing, landscaping and metal-stamping firms too wrapped up in the grind to focus on internal controls and long-term strategy.
"We're dealing with day-to-day, gut-wrenching problems, and the universities aren't really set up to deal with that," says Mathile, 69. He initially toyed with the idea of funding an entrepreneur school at a university, but after speaking to unhappy donors who had backed such programs, he decided to create Aileron with a chunk of his estimated $1.7 billion fortune.
Fewer than half of Aileron's clients have formal business training. "There's dirt under their fingernails, they probably don't use the best English or have the best table manners, but they have 10 to 20 employees," Mathile says. Aileron covers 95% of the costs; clients pay the rest so they have something invested in the courses. The Course for Presidents costs $800 for a two-day seminar. Similar offerings by the American Management Association run $2,450. The $800, moreover, includes a consultant, drawn from a pool of successful entrepreneurs and executives, for as long as you need one.
Great article. He's giving real entrepreneurs the structure taught at B-schools. That is so much more than setting up another school teaching students with no real entrepreneurial experience/intent....
Mathile wanted a nontraditional setting for learning and got it. Architect Lee H. Skolnick, who designed several children's museums, installed a floor-mounted video monitor in the building's "Risk Corridor" so that visitors could walk over images of a raging fire. Down another hall a touchscreen lets clients interact with a digital Mathile. The real Mathile is around a lot, too. After a guest lecture 30 clients cornered Mathile to get him to sign copies of his book Dream No Little Dreams, to talk strategy and to offer thanks.
Wesley Gipe, chief of technology services firm Agil it, is using Aileron consultants to switch to performance-based pay and shed customers to focus on the health care market. The consultants, he says, "can be brutal, and that's just what I need."
Eric Rich II, an Aileron client who heads Rich Roofing in Troy, Ohio, implemented more clearly defined roles and performance reviews. He suffered a staff turnover of 90% but enjoyed a sales bump in 2009 of 14% to $3.5 million despite the recession. Rich's quality of life improved, too: "I can take my family on vacation without spending the whole time on the phone."
Mathile wants to take his Dayton experiment national and branch out using social networking and the Web. "If every business adopts effective management and is successful, then you won't need this place," Mathile says. "We'll just rent it out as a bed-and-breakfast."
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